For a project, I needed to use the expression "my best friend". Along with the more common shinyuu, the phrase "ichiban nakano ii tomodachi" was suggested. I liked the look and sound of the latter better than the former, as it feels stronger (my number one / best friend) and more fitting for my project. The project isn't related to dialogue or characters speaking to one another, hence its informality.

I came to the conclusion the phrase would be written out as 一番仲のいい友達. I was quickly corrected by a user who claimed to be a native speaker, and he said the proper translation was 一番仲がいい友達. I messaged them back asking why that was, and still haven't received a reply.

I'm only starting to learn Japanese, but I believe the reason why it was wrong is because I used の for 'no', whereas の is used strictly as a possessive and not as a syllable. I just wanted to make sure this was accurate, and if not, why? EDIT: Forgot to clarify; I thought "my" would necessitate の, so...not sure what's going on there.

Any help / confirmation would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Last edited by allismine on Mon 08.17.2009 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm still new myself, but this is how I would interpret each of those:

「一番仲のいい友達」[My] number one good/best friend.

「一番仲がいい友達」[My] number one friendship/relationship is a good friend.

I think I did a terrible job of putting each into English, but basically I see the first as a single word describing a best friend and second as describing a best relationship as being your good friend.

Sorry if I wasn't helpful. I wanted to take a crack at giving back to the community, but I'm sure the experts here will give a better response.

Edit: Oops.

Last edited by lonelytraveler8 on Mon 08.17.2009 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

But, well... generally speaking, when the term is shown alone like you did here.一番仲のいい友達 would be preferable as a " good Japanese ". But among young people, some of them would prefer the latter.Well, and I know it is not necessarily true, but 一番仲のいい友達 sounds more matured.

EDITED

Last edited by NileCat on Mon 08.17.2009 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

lonelytraveler8: You missed out 「仲」^^; 「一番仲がいい友達」 is parsed as「((一番)仲がいい)友達」 not 「(一番仲)が(いい友達)」, and の here is a replacement for が in modifying clauses, and has the same meaning as が (but が tends to emphasize the word before it more than の).

It's not a grammar problem or anything, but there may be other more subtle differences like NileCat says. I can't help with that ._.

Thank you all so very much for your help. Not only did I find out my translation was more fitting after all, but I also have learned a little bit more about form and use. I really appreciate it your inputs. ^^